Listen up, STFU.
Everything you need to get through Basic will be taught/given to you.
Everything you need to get through AIT/OSUT will be taught/given to you.
Everything you need to do your job at your unit will be taught/given to you.

So basicly focus on each one at a time.
You're not smart, you're not a badass. Even if you are you're not. Act like your not.
Be proactive, MANY of your buddies will be slackers, they always are, make sure you're not. Get **** done before hand and be prepared.
Be CLEAN. Seriously. You want to become yoru DS/NCO's pet be nasty. When you are pissing and crying about things not being fair and being picked on remember that YOU are the filthy lil peice of ****!!! (It sad when I had to tell a grown ass person they need to wash their ass and clothes, and if you get your period in the feild TELL SOMEONE!! Don't make a pile of bloody clothes in your tent!!!!!)

DS multiply if you feel froggy and think you can get back in ones face OTHER will come help him skull dragg you!!!! Don't be that guy.

Last but not least please remember its YOUR career! The time you serve is only as good as YOU make it. Yes there will be DA SUCK. (The good thing is most of the time you and your buds can look back on DA SUCK and laugh) You will find yourself in some situations that you think are inhuman. You will get DA SHAFT (no one avoids this). However through it all you can have a lot influence on what goes on, especially if you're proactive.

One more thing, I say this countless times and its sad on how few actually listen, from the start plan for live after the service. There are so many programs available that will set you up for success its ridiculous. You have financial planning (the pitfall of many young kids), you have education ( Tuition Assistance is 100% meaning getting a college education is FREE!!!! Read this over and over. If you don't have a degree, GET ONE. Get TWO!!!) Trade certifications are available. The worst thing you can do is get out with NOTHING to show for it, and many do.

One more thing, I say this countless times and its sad on how few actually listen, from the start plan for live after the service. There are so many programs available that will set you up for success its ridiculous. You have financial planning (the pitfall of many young kids), you have education ( Tuition Assistance is 100% meaning getting a college education is FREE!!!! Read this over and over. If you don't have a degree, GET ONE. Get TWO!!!) Trade certifications are available. The worst thing you can do is get out with NOTHING to show for it, and many do.

Don't take short cuts and assume the instructors haven't already caught students doing it in the past.

Do exactly what you're told.

Ask questions.

Don't **** girls around the base/training areas without a condom. Those fuckers know exactly how much money you make and how much child support they'll get from you.

Accept that in the military good things happen and so do bad. If you get a shitty end of a stick **** up about it play with your stick and wash your hands after.
If something awesome happens (ie you get pulled out of the field for a few hours and grab mcdonalds when no one else does) shut the **** up about it. Don't brag, don't tell anyone. Privates can't seem to shut their mouths and usually have what little 'boons' they get taken away from them.

You are not free whose liberty is won by the rigour of other, more righteous souls. Your are merely protected. Your freedom is parasitic, you suck the honourable man dry and offer nothing in return. You who have enjoyed freedom, who have done nothing to earn it

Fort Lost In The Woods, Mo. 1987

Fort Leonard Wood, commonly known as Fort Lost in the Woods- 1987
My experiences, in yellow, are from 1987 Alpha Co. 6th Inf. 10th Regiment

Well first off congratulations, welcome to the Armed Forces.
Secondly:
1. You can expect early mornings - 4 a.m, and late evenings- 10 p.m -Yep
2. you can expect bland food- If you look up for more than a few secondsand a drill sees you- you are done.
3. you can expect a **** ton of p.t (physical training)- I wonder if they still have 'The Bowl'??
4. you can expect a HUGE culture shock- and how!
5. you can expect meeting people from every race, religin, creed, and background you could ever possibly imagine.- yep they take foreigners too
6. you can expect that TEAMWORK will be drilled into your skull from day one and throughout basic. there are NO individuals- and that includes fuckups- one fucks up- you ALL get fucked up.
7. you can expect to be intimidated- We got surpise inspections at 3 or 4 am- we had sadistic drill sgts.
8. you can expect to be homesick- yep
9. you can expect a plethora of yelling, although I hear thats calmed down somewhat these last few years- I hope so
10. you can expect to be tired- yep
11. you can expect that the nail that sticks out will be hammered down, metaphorically speaking of course- Yep
12. you can expect to have to remember a **** load of information-Yep
13. you can expect that your entire platoon will be as big of a group of unorganized dumb asses as possible at first- very true, you'll evolve, be parient.
14. you can expect to be VERY busy- did I mention meal times were short?
15. you can expect alot of shots and dental work- oh yeah!
16. you can expect that you will learn a vocabulary that is unique to the Armed Forces- yeah, what that cheeser said.
17. you can expect that you will do a TON of marching- "I used to drive a Coupe De Ville...And now I'm marchin' up the hill... I used to drive a Chevrolet- and now I'm marchin' every day!"
18. you can expect that you will required to perform and put out 110% effort-yep
19. you can expect that eventually your platoon will begin to work together- without a doubt, as all dweebs will be culled over time- ask me for a story about pvt Kerchner...
20. you can expect a feeling of PRIDE and ACCOMPLISHMENT like you have never felt before in your entire life when you dress up in your Class A uniform for graduation... The most memorable time of my Basic was graduation at Ft Leonard Wood- we had spent 8 weeks (summer '87, Ozarks- hot as hell) of being hot, beat, sweaty, tired, and did I say hot?- and then it all came together on graduation day... the dress uniforms, the innocence of youth, the pride of being considered a man, the marching down the avenue and the cadence called by the Vietnam vet/ senior drill from Alabama- his voice coming out in soulful song and answered by our own replies, in unison, and reflecting the time that we gained cohesion, camaraderie- and reverberating for what seemed like miles- we had finally evolved and we were proud....Ah, If I close my eyes- it seems like yesterday....memories.

Best of luck to you and one last thing;If you make it all the way through basic- to graduation day, and your drill sgt looks at you and still has to ask you what your name is.....YOU did it right. (trust me)

Good Luck- Say hello to The Bowl for me!

*edit* IF your drill sgt asks the group for a show of hands for anybody with a drivers license... DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND.

Never mind give us the story about Pte Kerchner. I will in return tell you about Signalman Clinton Twogood.

Well there was this fellow from Illinois- pvt Kirchner, seemed a little to Lord Fauntleroy to be there. He was going to be headed for the ARNG after basic and AIT, so all he had to do was go with the flow then it was back on the block for him- no worries about 'jodie'....

Well, every one of the drills zero'd in on him as soon as he got of the cattle truck- and so did we, the other recruits.... I mean we really did try to help him... It was just like the movie, Full Metal Jacket, except no drill was shot in the chest, or injured- and the grunt didnt blow his brains out in the end- but all the other qualities were present.

Kirchner was always fucking up- and the rest of us were always getting punished for his ****....

Now kirchner's first attempt to free himself was pretty slick... we all woke up for PT one morning and he was gone- and I mean gone. His personal gear was missing from a locked storage area and he was AWOL. He stayed that way for a week and we didnt hear much about it- we actually forgot about him. Then one day we came marching back from classes, to the barracks, for noon chow- and there was Kirchner.

It appeared that he had been able to get into the storage, get his personal gear then he left and went back to illinois- He let his recruiter talk him into coming back.... And the drills made him pay for that- he must have pushed up every bit of the front yard at our barracks and at 'the bowl'...(and all of this happend on his first day and evening back)

That evening, as we were in our bay and shooting the ****- the senior drill comes in and makes Kirchner strip down to his skivvies.. takes ALL of his clothes, boots, etc and then smiles and tells him, "Alright Kirchner- you get to feelin like you miss home tonight- just go on and leave." The senior drill left him standing there with nothing but his BVDs, thats it.

4:30 am rolls around and when we get up to get ready for PT- He is GONE again. lol (ends up- he stole a uniform from one of the drill sgt's lockers up in the 2nd platoon drill sgt's office.) Anyway- the Army does retrieve him, he does come back- the give him punishment (that has always made me wonder why they didnt just kick him out) and he seemed 'reformed and ready to conform'... then a week later, he drinks, damn near, a half a can of Brasso- and gets sent to the hospital...he's gone for a week, and when he comes back they tell him that he is going to be help up back at the replacement detachment so he can be introduced into another incoming boot class..

3 days later- he is admitted to the hospital because he broke his own arm, on purpose.(He did admit it to the mental Dr.).... He ended up getting a medical discharge.

Well there was this fellow from Illinois- pvt Kirchner, seemed a little to Lord Fauntleroy to be there. He was going to be headed for the ARNG after basic and AIT, so all he had to do was go with the flow then it was back on the block for him- no worries about 'jodie'....

Well, every one of the drills zero'd in on him as soon as he got of the cattle truck- and so did we, the other recruits.... I mean we really did try to help him... It was just like the movie, Full Metal Jacket, except no drill was shot in the chest, or injured- and the grunt didnt blow his brains out in the end- but all the other qualities were present.

Kirchner was always fucking up- and the rest of us were always getting punished for his ****....

Now kirchner's first attempt to free himself was pretty slick... we all woke up for PT one morning and he was gone- and I mean gone. His personal gear was missing from a locked storage area and he was AWOL. He stayed that way for a week and we didnt hear much about it- we actually forgot about him. Then one day we came marching back from classes, to the barracks, for noon chow- and there was Kirchner.

It appeared that he had been able to get into the storage, get his personal gear then he left and went back to illinois- He let his recruiter talk him into coming back.... And the drills made him pay for that- he must have pushed up every bit of the front yard at our barracks and at 'the bowl'...(and all of this happend on his first day and evening back)

That evening, as we were in our bay and shooting the ****- the senior drill comes in and makes Kirchner strip down to his skivvies.. takes ALL of his clothes, boots, etc and then smiles and tells him, "Alright Kirchner- you get to feelin like you miss home tonight- just go on and leave." The senior drill left him standing there with nothing but his BVDs, thats it.

4:30 am rolls around and when we get up to get ready for PT- He is GONE again. lol (ends up- he stole a uniform from one of the drill sgt's lockers up in the 2nd platoon drill sgt's office.) Anyway- the Army does retrieve him, he does come back- the give him punishment (that has always made me wonder why they didnt just kick him out) and he seemed 'reformed and ready to conform'... then a week later, he drinks, damn near, a half a can of Brasso- and gets sent to the hospital...he's gone for a week, and when he comes back they tell him that he is going to be help up back at the replacement detachment so he can be introduced into another incoming boot class..

3 days later- he is admitted to the hospital because he broke his own arm, on purpose.(He did admit it to the mental Dr.).... He ended up getting a medical discharge.

Wow... Makes me wonder why he even tried to get in.

for a little update.... I'm drilling in the RSP (recruit sustainment program) now, have my ACU's , and getting used to being screamed at and smoked( a few of the NCO's are former marines, and love to revert back every now and then). However I'm loving it so far, and can't wait till I ship. I've cut sixty pounds since March '09, and I've never been this driven before.